I'm the mother of Ralph, born April 29, 2007 with meconium aspriation syndrome and an atrial septal defect. He developed pulmonary hypertension as a result. He also has Down Syndrome. Ralph has 7 brothers and 2 sisters. These are our stories...

Thursday, February 6, 2014

One year ago today I carried my Maximus out of the orphanage he called home. He has blended into our family with apparent ease!

He has his quirks, like any other person in the world...but...

He is obsessed with water.

And you know what? Zhen is obsessed with water.

And Theo is obsessed with water.

What is up with that?

Last week I watched a video about Engedi, an oasis on this western side of the Dead Sea, located on the edge of the Judean Wilderness. The wilderness is dusty, desolate and lonely. Tucked in an unlikely corner of this wasteland, the waters of Engedi pour out of the rocks, creating a lush little piece of paradise.

In the Bible, when the water pours from a spring or a fountain like Engedi, it's called "living" water, as opposed to water from a cistern, or storage reservoir. Living water is life giving, cold and refreshing. Water that's been sitting around is not cold, not refreshing, and who knows what's been floating or swimming in it.

“My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Jer. 2:13

Water is so powerful. It is essential for life and well being. Without it we die. I consider my boys' time in the orphanage as time in the desert. They were barely sustained. They were literally and purposely dehydrated by the people in charge of their care. Less pee = fewer diapers. My boys are non-verbal, but just today I heard from a mom of another un-orphan who is verbal. This is what the child told his mom, "I was very thirsty in Ukraine. Nobody wanted me to have wet mouth. It was hard." They were sustained by a broken system/cistern that could not hold water but they knew nothing else.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Ralph and the whole crew are rocking this house today!! All is serene and lovely outside, but inside is a different story! It's loud. Boistrous. A little on the crazy side.

Many of our neighbors hit the store for bread and milk last night. We have been baking out own bread for over a month now, so I knew we would be ok as long as we had flour on hand. I've got two loaves of sourdough raising for supper tonight. It will go great with a big pot of potato soup, AKA heaven in a bowl!

Since I have all the children at home today, I think we will work on cleaning up the basement. It's not pretty, but working up an appetite never hurt anyone.

In other news, we have baby kittens! Look at that sweet little orange kitty. The other is gray, with a vanila splash across the forehead. I'll get some better photos when they get a little bigger, but I need to think about finding homes for these two little peanuts.